char* letter5 = str->chars[4]; //direct cast to a char pointer
char letter[2] = str->chars[4]; letter[1] = 0; //cast to a char array

//string function
function str_get_char(STRING* str1,STRING* str2,var m_val)
{
  str_cpy(str1,"");
  str_to_asc(str1,str2->chars[m_val]);
}

void str_get_chars(STRING* str1,STRING* str2,int start_num,int count) 
{
str_cpy(str1, str2);
str_clip(str1, start_num-1);
(str1.chars)[count] = 0;
}

str_get_chars(str,"A new function for Lite-C",7,8);//str contains "function"

//(this is untested)
void str_get_chars(STRING* dest,STRING* source,int start_num,int count) 
{  
   str_cpy(dest, "");
   int c; for(c=0; c<count; c++)
   {
       str_cat(dest, " ");
       (dest.chars)[c] = (source.chars)[start_num + c];
   }
}

function str_get_chars(STRING* dest, STRING* source, int start_num, int count)
{
	str_cpy(dest, ""); // Clear destination STRING object. 
	int srcLen = str_len(source); // Get len of source string.
	
	if (start_num > 0 && count > 0 && srcLen > start_num) // Check ranges.
	{
		char *szTmp = malloc(count + 1); // Create temp buffer.
		
		int i = 0;
		while (i < count && i + start_num - 1 < srcLen) // Count while in range.
		{
			szTmp[i] = (source.chars)[i + start_num - 1]; // Copy chars.
			i++;
		}
		szTmp[i] = 0;	
		str_cat(dest, _str(szTmp)); // Store final result into dest STRING object. 	
		free(szTmp);
	}
}